Pearson (13-6), who will be returning to lightweight, is coming off a disappointing knockout loss to Cub Swanson at UFC on FX 4. Prior to that bout, the The Ultimate Fighter 9 winner had earned a dominant unanimous decision victory over Junior Assuncao in December in his featherweight debut.

Sotiropoulos (14-4), an Ultimate Fighter 6 veteran, is coming off consecutive losses to Dennis Siver and Rafael Dos Anjos. Prior to his most recent skid, the jiu jitsu specialist was undefeated in the UFC.